Name: Lemon Sweet Rolls
Ingredients: 4-1/2 cups all purpose flour, (divided); 2-1/4 teaspoons rapid rise instant yeast, (or 1 packet if you buy packets); 1/2 cup granulated sugar; 1 teaspoon salt; 1 tablespoon lemon zest; 1 cup milk, (warmed (approximately 110ºF)); 1/3 cup unsalted butter, (very soft, almost melted); 2 eggs, (room temperature); 1 cup granulated sugar; 1 tablespoon lemon zest; 6 tablespoons unsalted butter, (very soft, almost melted); 8 tablespoons unsalted butter, (room temperature); 4 ounces cream cheese, (softened); 1-1/2 cups powdered sugar; 1/2 teaspoon vanilla extract; 2 teaspoons fresh squeezed lemon juice; 2 teaspoons lemon zest; 1/4 cup lemon curd, (for swirling with frosting)

overhead shot of frosted sweet rolls on cookie sheet with lemon wedges in between rolls

These lemon sweet rolls are soft and fluffy and topped with a lemon cream cheese frosting and lemon curd for the ultimate lemon filled roll!

Cinnamon rolls are one of my favorite things to bake! And eat! 😉 I have a whole bunch of different flavors I’m wanting to try out (so much to bake, so little time!). So far I’ve just done regular cinnamon rolls (these are one of my most requested items) and maple cinnamon rolls. But these lemon sweet rolls seemed like the perfect thing to bake for spring. Plus I love lemon, so it’s about time I tried it out!

I love these lemon sweet rolls. They are light and fluffy and full of bright, tangy lemon flavor. There’s lemon in every part of the roll!

The dough has lemon zest mixed in.

The filling has granulated sugar and lemon zest. I wasn’t sure how a sweet roll would be without brown sugar, but I wanted the lemon flavor to really shine through. I’ve made these subbing a 1/4 cup of the granulated sugar for brown sugar. I didn’t really notice a difference, so I think it’s fine to do a mix of sugars in the filling if you’re wanting to.

And the cream cheese frosting (which is a must to me for sweet rolls) has both fresh lemon juice and lemon zest in it. Then we top off each roll with a little swirl of lemon curd mixed into the frosting – divine!

side view of sweet roll with lemon cream cheese frosting and lemon curd on it

The frosting on these rolls is a little on the lighter side for what I typically like and do. I just wanted to be sure you could tell there was a roll under there in the photos! So I added more frosting after the photo shoot. But just so you know, the frosting makes a good amount, use as much as you like. My mom always says I go too heavy with it (on everything with frosting). But there’s no such thing as too much frosting in my book – haha!

overhead shot of 12 frosted lemon sweet rolls on cookie sheet with lemon wedges in between rolls

overhead shot of 6 rolls on wood board with lemons, frosting and lemon curd surrounding rolls

overhead shot of frosted lemon rolls on parchment paper with bowl of frosting, knife and wood citrus juicer by roll

overhead shot of 12 lemon sweet rolls on parchment paper with juiced lemons and frosting and lemon curd next to rolls

close up picture of lemon roll topped with lemon cream cheese frosting and lemon curd

dough rolled out and cut into long strips on counter

12 rolls rolled into buns on parchment paper cookie sheet

5 from 3 votes

Lemon Sweet Rolls

These lemon sweet rolls are soft and fluffy and topped with a lemon cream cheese frosting and lemon curd for the ultimate lemon filled roll!

Course: Breakfast, Brunch

Servings: 12

Ingredients

For the Dough:

4-1/2 cups all purpose flour, divided
2-1/4 teaspoons rapid rise instant yeast, (or 1 packet if you buy packets)
1/2 cup granulated sugar
1 teaspoon salt
1 tablespoon lemon zest
1 cup milk, warmed (approximately 110ºF)
1/3 cup unsalted butter, very soft, almost melted
2 eggs, room temperature

For the Filling:

1 cup granulated sugar
1 tablespoon lemon zest
6 tablespoons unsalted butter, very soft, almost melted

For the Lemon Cream Cheese Frosting:

8 tablespoons unsalted butter, room temperature
4 ounces cream cheese, softened
1-1/2 cups powdered sugar
1/2 teaspoon vanilla extract
2 teaspoons fresh squeezed lemon juice
2 teaspoons lemon zest
1/4 cup lemon curd, for swirling with frosting

Instructions

For the Dough:

In a stand mixer fitted with dough hook, stir together 4 cups of the flour, yeast, sugar, salt and lemon zest on medium speed, until combined.
Add in the milk, butter, and eggs and continue to mix on medium speed until combined.
Turn the mixer down to the lowest speed (this is "stir" on my mixer), and mix for 7 minutes (to knead the dough) until the dough is smooth and elastic.
If needed, add more flour, a little at at time. The dough should be slightly pulling away from the sides of the bowl but still a little tacky to the touch. You don’t want too much flour or your rolls will be dry.
Lightly grease and flour a large mixing bowl. Put dough ball in bowl, cover and let rise in a warm place for up to one hour, or until dough has almost doubled in size. (Sometimes this happens in 30 minutes or so).
Remove dough from bowl and roll out on a floured surface, until dough is about 1/4” thick and forms a rectangle about 22”x18” in size.

For the Filling:

In a small bowl, mix together sugar and lemon zest until thoroughly mixed.
Spread softened butter over rolled out dough, leaving about 1/4” border at top and bottom (the longer sides) of the dough.
Sprinkle sugar mixture evenly over butter.
Roll up dough, starting from the 22” side, making sure to keep the roll tight (try not to lose any filling out the edges).*
Slice roll into 12 pieces using sharp knife.
Line a baking sheet with parchment paper and place cut rolls on baking sheet, about two inches apart with the seam side facing in. (see photo above)
Cover with a light weight towel and let rolls rise for an hour in a warm place. They should double in size.
Preheat oven to 375ºF. While it’s preheating, make frosting.

For the Frosting:

Beat together butter and cream cheese until smooth & creamy, about 5 minutes.
Add vanilla, lemon zest, lemon juice and powdered sugar, mix on low speed until combined, then on medium high speed for about 4 minutes or until light & fluffy.
Bake rolls (at 375º) for about 10-12 minutes or until golden brown. (See photo below of unfrosted roll to see what they should look like). Remove and let cool on pan for about 10 minutes.
Frost rolls with frosting. Then place small dollops of lemon curd over frosting and gently swirl into frosting, not mixing all the way.
Enjoy! If there’s any left over, store at room temp in an airtight container.

Recipe Notes

*After spreading the butter and sugar mixture onto the dough, I like to cut my dough into long strips and then roll up each strip individually. (See photo above). I’ve found that it gives a much tighter roll. I use a pizza cutter to cut my dough into the strips.

lemon rolls on cookie sheet with one roll unfrosted and lemon wedge in between rolls

lemon sweet roll on ceramic plate topped with lemon frosting and lemon curd with citrus laying next to plate and jar of lemon curd next to plate

If you’re a fan of lemon, be sure to try out our creamy lemon bars and lemon poppy seed cake!

And make sure to follow our Recipe Pinterest Board for more delicious inspiration.

-Manda

3 comments

GinieFriday, May 2, 2025 - 9:52 am

Love lemon, cannot wait to make these. Make your cinnamon roll recipe all the time! ReplyCancel
SoniSunday, May 4, 2025 - 2:32 pm

Making these for Mother’s Day – they look amazing!ReplyCancel
LayneMonday, May 5, 2025 - 10:36 am

These are fantastic, worth every minute put in to making them! ReplyCancel